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age grade and age set
age grade and age set differentiation of social role based on age, commonly found in small-scale societies of North America and East Africa. Age sets are a type of sodality (nonresidential groups that cut across kinship ties and thus promote broader social solidarity) of young men who usually coope...
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cone
cone or strobilus , in botany, reproductive organ of the gymnosperms (the conifers , cycads , and ginkgoes ). Like the flower in the angiosperms (flowering plants), the cone is actually a highly modified branch; unlike the flower, it does not have sepals or petals. Usually separate male (stam...
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scale insect
scale insect common name for members of a highly modified group of insects belonging to several families of the superfamily Coccoidea. Scales possess antennae and are characterized by reduced legs. Only the males have wings; females are always wingless. Scales are popularly subdivided into three gr...
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Mercalli scale
Mercalli scale An earthquake-intensity scale based on direct observation. Devised by G.Mercalli, it ranges from scales I (not felt) and II (felt by most people at rest) to VII (difficult for a person to remain standing), X (most structures destroyed), and XII (total devastation). It is not a reliab...
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Celsius temperature scale
Celsius temperature scale , temperature scale according to which the temperature difference between the reference temperatures of the freezing and boiling points of water is divided into 100 degrees. The freezing point is taken as 0 degrees Celsius and the boiling point as 100 degrees Celsius. The...
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quadrant
quadrant in technology, angle-measuring device based on a scale of 90°. It is sometimes confused with the sextant , a similar instrument based on a scale of 60°. The quadrant is rarely used today.
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scale
scale in zoology, an outgrowth, either bony or horny, of the skin of an animal. The major component of the scales of fishes is bone, and they are formed directly in the skin membrane as the fish grows. The number of rows of scales, as well as the kind, figures in the identification of a species. Th...
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Fahrenheit temperature scale
Fahrenheit temperature scale , temperature scale in which the temperature difference between two reference temperatures, the melting and boiling points of water, is divided into 180 equal intervals called degrees. The freezing point is taken as 32°F and the boiling point as 212°F. The scal...
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kelvin
kelvin abbr. K, official name in the International System of Units (SI) for the degree of temperature as measured on the Kelvin temperature scale .
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Beaufort scale
Beaufort scale a scale of wind velocity devised (c.1805) by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the British navy. An adaptation of Beaufort's scale is used by the U.S. National Weather Service; it employs a scale from 0 to 12, representing calm, light air, light breeze, gentle breeze, moderate breeze...
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